Irish consumer confidence has risen as the amount Irish consumers spent on everyday grocery items, such as food, drinks and toiletries, increased year-on-year for the seventh consecutive quarter, according to Nielsen retail performance data released today (7 March.)
The report outlined that Irish grocery spend has increased +2.1% in Q4 2016 versus Q4 2015. This rise was based on a 1.5% increase in the volume of groceries purchased and a 0.6% rise in the average prices paid.
According to Matt Clark, commercial director in Ireland, Nielsen: “Irish consumer confidence has been steadily rising for the last few years and has been stable enough to withstand recent unsettling events such as the UK Brexit and the US election,”
Reportedly, 52% of respondents are feeling positive about their personal finances and feeling now is a good time to make purchases stood.
“Although we’re a long way from seeing a return to the days of the Celtic Tiger, this confidence has slowly been translating into increasing spend among consumers. A good barometer of this is year-on-year grocery spend rising for seven consecutive quarters plus the volume of groceries purchased jumping by its highest level for a year. This provides encouraging signs for the future, particularly with a flat consumer price index and ECB interest rates remaining at a record low.” Clark added.
Overall the data showed that market outperformed both Europe as a whole (1.8% rise) and the UK (0.7% rise).
© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern
